PCB chief says Pakistan to play five-match bilateral series with India under new BCCI deal

Karachi: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi has said that the board has signed an agreement with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to play three 'home' and two away bilateral series in the next cycle of Future Tours Programme (FTP).

Sethi said that Pakistan had agreed to conditionally support the governance and financial overhaul in the ICC after the BCCI entered into an agreement with the PCB on playing five bilateral series in the next FTP cycle.

According to The Nation, Sethi said that the 'home' series meant that Pakistan might now host India even at a neutral venue, which could be UAE or some other country, adding that when a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is signed, then more details will be worked out between the two boards in a manner beneficial to Pakistani cricket.

Sethi, however, said that he cannot an absolute guarantee that an Indo-Pak series will take place at designated times given the nature of political relations between the two countries and also indicated that Pakistan and India might even play a short series in a few months time at a neutral venue.